Strata
by orpheneritus
Summary: [YuushiGakuto] He’d looked, everyone did. Yuushi was just the best to look at. It was unfair that he should be picked on.
1. Chapter 1

1/

He got caught looking.

The whole situation was entirely unfair, because the truth was everyone looked. He was just the easiest to pick on.

The strike knocked him off balance. 'Eyes forward _homo_,' Hidaka-san sneered.

Maybe if he hadn't blushed. If he'd been able to smile like Atobe, or glare like Shishido… he would've even settled for Jirou's yawn.

'You know, Mukahi-kun,' Hidaka grinned. 'Oshitari's quite a ladies man, I'm not sure how he'd take it if he knew you were drooling over his cock. Maybe we should ask him?'

That's when he made his fatal mistake. He should've told Hidaka to fuck off, to call the bluff and tell him to go for it. But he didn't.

'I wasn't,' he whispered. '… _I'm not_.'

'That just proves you are,' the taller boy mocked. 'I'll be seeing you…' Hidaka promised vaguely as he left the change rooms.

He really hadn't been. He'd looked, everyone did. Yuushi was just the best to look at. It didn't mean anything, he was just a little curious.

He'd been seeing a lot of Hidaka-san since then.

Hidaka liked to pinch the underside of his arms. To walk along side him in the hall, arm around his shoulders in false friendship, while his fingers pinched and squeezed. The bruises came up mottled yellow and purple.

It wasn't unbearable, just irritating to be pushed around so carelessly. He was weak to let the senior do it, but still, he didn't want Yuushi to know. It would be too embarrassing.

'Something wrong, Gakuto?' Yuushi asked shouldering him out of his daze.

'Ah, no. Sorry, Yuushi,' he grimaced. 'What happened?'

'She asked me to play tennis,' Yuushi sighed, resting his head in his hand.

'That's bad,' Gakuto said with a grimace. 'And…'

'Ugliest backhand I've ever seen,' Yuushi replied with a quick incline of his head.

He laughed. 'There's always something wrong with them, Yuushi. When are you going to let up and just date one?'

His partner adjusted his glasses and swept his dark hair out of his face. 'When I find the perfect one, Gakuto.'

He nodded. If anyone deserved the perfect girlfriend it was Yuushi, who was nearest to perfection himself. 'No one's perfect,' he murmured absently.

Yuushi's hand rested warmly on his shoulder, squeezing tightly for a moment. 'I meant perfect for me.'

The leaving brush of his fingers across his neck brought a flush and shiver to his skin.

'Shall we?' Yuushi asked extending his arm in a gentlemanly fashion.

Gakuto slapped his arm away with a laugh. 'Don't do that chivalry shit with me. I'm not a girl.'

'Shame really,' Yuushi replied flippantly. 'You're cuter than most in a skirt.'

His only reply was an elbow to the gut. 'Take that back,' he complained with a blush. 'You have never seen me in a skirt.'

'And yet you don't deny having worn one…'

'Yuushi!' he cried in exasperation.

'You just have better legs—' But Yuushi was unable to finish his speculation upon Gakuto's legs, as he had already tackled him to the courtyard ground.

The last class of the day was physics. The only class that day he didn't take with Yuushi, who preferred biology. Physics was his favourite class. There was something comforting about learning the rules that regulated the way the world worked. If you had the right formula, every question could be answered. He often wished the rest of his life could be solved with the right equation.

They were supposed to be finishing an assignment in class, which Gakuto had finished the day before. He sat at the back of the classroom and divided his attention between gazing out of the window and reading the manga he'd swiped from Yuushi's house the other day.

He wasn't sure what he'd been thinking when he'd picked up the manga, he should've known that all Yuushi's books would be some soppy shoujo story. But somehow in every story line that Yuushi had yapped on about the heroine had been able to find a creative solution to her problems. Some insight or inspiration wouldn't go astray. There weren't a lot of life skills to be learnt from his meccha collection.

'Reading _Badi_?'

Gakuto jumped in his seat, and blushed. Of course he wasn't reading a gay magazine in school, but Hidaka had said it loud enough to attract a couple of stares from the nearest students. 'Will you shut up,' he hissed in embarrassment.

Hidaka slid into the seat beside him and shifted uncomfortably close to him. 'Tell me Mukahi-kun… or can I call you Gakuto?'

'No. You cannot,' he replied harshly.

Hidaka shrugged carelessly. 'Okay…' he drawled. 'Mu-ka-hi-kun. Tell me something?'

'What?'

'Do you call out Yuushi's name when you jerk off at night?' Hidaka smiled widely, his eyes narrowing as Gakuto's face felt hot with blood. 'No, you wouldn't shout it out, would you? You would just hide under the blankets, hand on your dick, and whisper his name over and over again, pulling yourself.'

Maybe it was shock that was preventing him from replying, but the air was thick and hot and Gakuto felt as if he couldn't take a breath. Hidaka's next words were lost under the heavy thump of his heartbeat. His hands, clammy and wet. Then Hidaka's voice was right in his ear. A quiver of breath across his neck. 'You're so hard for him… faggot.'

'Stop it!' Gakuto's chair reeled out from under him as he stood up violently. The class turned, startled by his outburst. Everyone was staring. His teacher was glaring at him, as Hidaka took him roughly by the arm and dragged him from the class. He let him self be pulled half way down the hall, the other boy's fingers digging painfully into the skin of his upper arm.

He stopped suddenly, pulling Hidaka off balance. 'Let go of me,' he hissed.

Hidaka shrugged and let go of his arm.

'Why are you doing this to me?'

The other boy stepped in towards him causing Gakuto to back up until he hit the wall. Hidaka placed a hand either side of Gakuto's shoulders, boxing him in, and shrugged with a smirk.

He ducked under one arm; tired of this game he didn't want to play. Hidaka's arm caught him by the waist and pulled him back against the taller boy's body. He struggled to get away. Then Hidaka grabbed his crotch, hard, squeezing his arousal.

'Hah,' he laughed. 'I knew it, you little cock sucker.'


	2. Chapter 2

2/

Saturdays were the best day of the week.

Gakuto spent most Saturdays at Yuushi's place, meaning he didn't have to go home and watch his mother be disgustingly attentive to her latest and greatest boyfriend, Kobayashi-san. Or even worse have Kobayashi-san out of town and listen to his mother's obsessing for the entire evening.

But the best thing about Saturday was tennis practice with Yuushi. Hooking up on doubles with Yuushi was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He'd been languishing amongst the two hundred reserve players at Hyoutei when, out of everyone, Yuushi had chosen him.

Lots of reserve payers had wanted to play with the tensai, but only he had been a perfect match. He'd lost a lot of friends that day. People who'd considered themselves better players, and maybe they had been. He would do it again for what he'd gained in his partnership with Yuushi.

If he could have only one person to be with, he'd choose Yuushi.

'What are you smiling about,' Yuushi asked quizzically.

Gakuto flushed. 'Nothing,' he said shaking his head. 'Silly stuff.'

'Get changed then, I want to go swimming before it gets too hot.'

Yuushi was unabashed about showing his body. He stripped his clothes off naturally, tossing them onto the end of his bed. The taller boy stood poised in the middle of the room, not hiding or showing off, just standing normally.

He had wide shoulders, which tapered into a lean stomach and narrower hips. He was tall, but still defined, the indent of his spine leading the way to the rounded swell of his buttocks. As Yuushi turned to grab his suit, Gakuto's gaze glanced briefly over the dusting of black hair at his crotch, and the heavy hang of the other boy's flaccid penis.

He turned away as he hardened embarrassingly quickly. Gakuto hastily pulled his shirt over his head, hiding his flush under the cloth. That had been a really stupid thing to do. Gakuto attempted to covertly pull his swimming shorts on without attracting too much attention.

'What happened to your arm?'

Gakuto jumped as Yuushi wrapped a long fingered hand over his bruise. 'Nothing,' he replied pulling his arm free. 'Just a bruise.'

Yuushi nodded slowly, his lips pressing together pensively.

The public pool was packed even early in the morning. There were a lot of Hyoutei students there, but fortunately no Hidaka.

They had barely ditched their belongings in the change room before he was halfway up the ten metre diving platform. He wasn't really a great diver but there was something about standing on the edge of the platform. Nothing holding him in place, his toes curling over the edge into oblivion.

'You're not scared of anything,' Yuushi had remarked on his diving.

Gakuto shook his head. 'I'm scared, but I still do it,' he'd replied.

That's what he loved about standing on the edge. Sometimes he'd stand there for more than a minute, feeling the clench of his stomach and the hammer of his heart. Until the murmurs of the people waiting behind him would become agitated. Then… he would choose to jump. To tumble and slice through the air, plummeting quickly, fighting to control his limbs until his hands struck the water and his body was instantly slowed. Captured and embraced in water that would mute out and distort all happenings beyond its space.

He surfaced at the edge of the pool to be greeted by an unpleasant sight.

'Hey, Gakuto,' she said, sitting up on the towel where she reclined along side Yuushi.

'Yuki,' he grunted, ripping his towel out from underneath her.

Yuushi only smirked at him.

Yuki lived in his apartment complex, just across the hallway. She had somehow become one of his closest friends, though perhaps only in regards to proximity of their living arrangements.

'Don't be mean, I brought you an ice cream,' she smiled.

'Flavour?' he asked.

'Green apple,' she replied as if he were an idiot. 'I got Oshitari-kun grape.'

Yuushi grunted, his ice cream slowly melting, untouched, onto the pavement beside him. Yuushi hated grape. With a shake of his head Gakuto wordlessly handed his ice cream over to his partner, Yuki only frowned, bottom lip poking out for a moment before being sucked back in. She shrugged offhandedly, admitting defeat.

'You haven't been home, Gakuto. Avoiding me?'

'Always,' he replied accepting his half of the ice cream from his partner.

'Nice bruise,' she nodded towards his arm. 'I heard about what happened,' she remarked, entirely missing the enquiring glance from Yuushi.

'How?'

Yuki's face became pinched for a moment. 'Hanako… remember her, Oshitari?'

Gakuto sighed, as his partner glowered. 'She is indelibly marked upon my memory,' replied Yuushi with distinct distaste.

'Mm,' Yuki commented wordlessly.

For a moment they stood locked in a tableau, Gakuto the outsider. Whatever had happened on the handful of dates, he would probably never know. Whatever the truth of the matter was, he didn't want to know, but any conversation regarding Hanako was distinctly unwelcome.

While his partner's outlook was getting darker, Gakuto could tell that Yuki was about to let up. Only a moment later she shrugged and replied, 'Hanako told me all about what happened in your physics class.'

'I don't see how, there was nothing to tell,' he replied.

'What was nothing?' Yuushi interrupted, sounding a little irritated.

'How Hidaka-san hauled Gakuto out of class, after some sort of a disagreement,' said Yuki, licking around the edge of her ice cream. 'Are you two friends or something?'

'No,' he replied with an embittered laugh.

'Shame, he's good looking, I was thinking you could get his number…'

'Not even if we were friends,' Gakuto replied lightly.

'With that attitude, I don't know why I spend time with you.'

'I really wish you wouldn't,' he replied coldly.

'Fine, I won't come around tomorrow,' she huffed picking up her bag from the ground.

'I didn't invite you.'

'I'm making gyoza. You're not invited,' she said pointedly to Yuushi. 'See you tomorrow, Gakuto,' she called out with a wave.

'I didn't invite you,' he called after her.

'Gyoza?' Yuushi asked as he spread the towel out on the ground.

'My mum is in Sapporo. Yuki and I cook dinner together, it's easier that way,' he explained.

Yuushi nodded slowly, 'I didn't know.'

'It's no big deal. We're both by ourselves a lot… what's wrong?' he asked.

'Nothing, I just didn't know,' his partner smiled. '… think she'll ever forgive me for dropping Hanako?'

'No… but she'll stop buying you grape flavored snacks… eventually.'

'Good to know.' Yuushi nodded, pulling his legs up to his chest. 'Hey, Gakuto, what's going on with Hidaka?'

Gakuto's gaze lingered on the pool. 'What do you mean?' he asked quietly.

Yuushi shrugged. 'He's just been hanging around you a lot lately… I was wondering—'

'So, what does that mean? Just cause he's hanging around me doesn't mean anything. Besides, I can have other friends, Yuushi,' he replied, voice quivering slightly.

'Of course, I didn't mean… I just thought you said he wasn't… forget it.' Yuushi shook his head and rested his chin upon his knees. 'Sorry,' Yuushi muttered quietly.

The silence stretched between them. He wanted to tell Yuushi about Hidaka. He wanted Yuushi to make him go away, but what was he supposed to say? It was better to leave it alone, eventually he'd figure it out on his own.

We could do some laps?' he suggested tentatively.

Yuushi tilted his head to regard him quizzically. He generally hated the kind of monotonous training that Yuushi loved, I very thought of repeating the same activity in the same way for hours on end made him want to curl up in bed.

His partner nodded, 'Okay,' he replied. 'We could make it into a competition of sorts?'

'Competition?' he repeated his smile slowly widening.

Yuushi's shadow fell over him as he stood, his body a silhouette, the frame of his glasses flashing in the sun. 'Absolutely. Winner gets to choose tonight's movie.'

Gakuto shook his head and held out his hand so he could be hauled to his feet. There was no way he could sit through another foreign art house piece of crap. Yuushi would just have to live with losing.


	3. Chapter 3

If Gakuto tried to be completely impartial, he could see how Hidaka could be considered a good-looking guy. Of course any inherit attractiveness he was born with was completely overwritten by his repellent personality.

Gakuto snatched a sidelong glance down the row of lockers to where Hidaka was surrounded by an assembly of junior students all vying for his attention. His gaze locked with Hidaka, who smirked at him over the heads of his adoring crowd. Gakuto hastily turned away, pushing through the morning crowds and out into the hallway.

It was becoming difficult to get through the school days without having some kind of an encounter with Hidaka. A whispered word, a smirk, sometimes worse. The only thing that seemed to discourage the other boy was Yuushi.

Since their trip to the swimming pool Yuushi had been enquiring about Hidaka, a lot. Gakuto was becoming increasingly paranoid as the days went by. The sensation of being watched was making it hard for him to concentrate on anything. And it wasn't just Hidaka breathing down his neck. More and more often he was beginning to catch Yuushi's presence. The flash of dark hair at the edge of his vision, the heavy scent of his body nearby.

While some part of him was thrilled by his partners increased presence, in this situation it wouldn't be long before Yuushi and Hidaka had some sort of a confrontation.

'I could talk to him,' said Yuushi at lunch.

'Who?' he replied.

'Hidaka-san. If he's bothering you, I can talk to him.'

'I don't want you to, Yuushi,' he replied.

'Why not?'

'Because nothing's wrong,' he replied adamantly.

'Mm,' Yuushi grunted in a non-committal manner. 'Okay.'

He was well familiar with that expression of _okay_ from Yuushi, and it didn't mean everything was fine.

Yuushi gazed out intently across the students milling about the grounds until he settled on the form of Hidaka in the distance. Gakuto watched his partner intently study the senior. It was a calculated look he'd seen Yuushi wear many times, usually on the court and usually just before he was about to win a point. Yuushi's intent gaze gave him a horrifying feeling of finality. Whatever grace period he'd had just expired.

His life had an excellent sense of whimsy.

When the last person in the world he wanted to see was Hidaka, he couldn't escape from the boy. Now that he was actually looking for him, he couldn't find the senior anywhere.

He wasn't really clear on what he was going to do, but preventing Hidaka from speaking with Yuushi was imperative.

Gakuto pulled the paper towel from the dispenser and wet it under the tap. He drew the cool water over his face and forehead slightly dampening his fringe.

The bathroom door swung back on its hinges with a groan.

'I heard you were looking for me?' Hidaka said leaning against the frame of the door.

Gakuto swallowed, letting his school bag slide from his shoulder down to the floor. 'Yeah,' he replied, conscious of the sudden dampness under his shirt.

'I have to warn you,' Hidaka smiled warmly. 'If you go about inviting boys into the bathroom like this, you might get beaten up.'

Gakuto crossed his arms and stepped away from the counter. 'What do I have to do?'

Hidaka raised an eyebrow in askance.

'For you to stop,' he explained. 'What do I have to do?'

Hidaka moved so quickly he barely had time to react before the other boy had him by the wrist, dragging him towards the toilet stall.

'What are you doing?' he hissed, attempting to wrest his arm from Hidaka's grip.

'Making a deal. Isn't that what you wanted?' Hidaka, grunted as he struggled to pull him through the stall door.

Gakuto held on with all his strength, but Hidaka was stronger than him and eventually he couldn't hold on any longer. His hand was ripped from the door way and he went stumbling back into the other boy, almost tripping over the squat toilet.

His head connected roughly with the wall as Hidaka locked the stall door.

'Take your clothes off,' the senior hissed quietly.

'What? No—'

Hidaka's hands slammed into the wall either side of his head. Gakuto shied away as Hidaka leaned in closely, his nose, brushing against the strands of his hair. 'You wanted to make a deal, Gakuto. If you take your clothes off, we have a deal.'

'N-no deal,' he whispered. 'I can't.' Gakuto stepped to the side, trying to get around the senior.

'_Yes_,' Hidaka replied. 'Yes you can.'

Hidaka's hands were on his shoulders pushing him back against the wall with a surprising gentleness that confused him. 'You don't have to do anything, Gakuto. Just take off your clothes and sit.' The senior indicated to the raised platform. 'Then we have a deal.'

Gakuto shook his head. 'You're going to run off with my uniform…'

Hidaka shook his head, no hint of deception in his expression, only an uncommonly intent gaze.

'I-if I do this,' he stammered. 'Do you promise not to tell Yuushi, I was… looking?'

'I promise,' Hidaka replied eagerly, hands already pushing his school blazer from his shoulders.

'Don't,' Gakuto pulled away from the other boy. 'I'll do it.'

Ignoring the uncomfortable twist of his stomach, he allowed his school jacket to slip down his shoulders and fall to the ground.

Hidaka picked it up for him and held it in the grip of one hand. 'You have to take off everything,' he murmured, voice trembling a little.

Gakuto loosened the tie and slipped it over his head. He hesitated as Hidaka held his hand out to take it. 'I'd prefer to hold it,' he said, holding the tie closely to his chest.

Hidaka reluctantly handed over his jacket, shifting from foot to foot. 'Fine, just hurry.'

His fingers had trouble with the small buttons of his oxford shirt; his hands shook more as Hidaka become less patient. Gakuto quickly shucked the shirt from his shoulders and placed it on the floor, by his jacket and tie.

He brushed his hands over his chest, covering himself. Covering the flush caused by his hardening nipples as Hidaka's gaze travelled his torso. He hesitated at his belt as his cock stirred.

Hidaka grabbed him. Roughly pulling him up hard against his body. Skin brushing against coarse fabric, the other boy's hardness pressing into his back. Hidaka reached around his waist and tugged at his belt, hands pulling roughly at his pants until the belt was pulled free and his trousers pushed down to his knees. 'There,' Hidaka rasped. 'Underwear too.'

Stumbling from the other boys grasp, Gakuto shucked his underwear to the floor, blushing as he bent over, exposing himself to Hidaka.

Legs pressed closely together, Gakuto crossed his arms and turned around. 'No touching,' he warned fiercely, pushing Hidaka's hand away.

Hidaka glowered for a moment, but slowly lowered his arm. 'Sit.'

Gakuto sat down on the ledge, beside the squat toilet. Cold tiles pressing into his backside.

'Turn…' Hidaka gestured.

Gakuto flinched as the other boy laid a hand upon his bare shoulder, but Hidaka only gestured how he should turn. 'No touching,' he reminded the other boy.

'No touching,' Hidaka repeated, moving in closer to him, standing over him as he sat on the small ledge by the toilet.

Gakuto glanced down at his hands, clasped over his genitals as Hidaka gazed down on him, gripping his erection through his pants, roughly squeezing it. 'What are—'

'Shut up,' Hidaka grabbed his head and forced him to look at the wall of the stall. 'Stay there.' Gakuto squeezed his eyes shut as he heard the distinct sound of a zipper being drawn.

The scent of arousal filled the small space between them. Gakuto quivered as Hidaka grunted softly from behind him, the familiar sounds and smells of masturbation causing his own erection to swell under his hands.

He crouched down holding himself away from the senior as his breathing became more laboured and the sounds of his fist more hurried. Hidaka's breath stirred his hair as the taller boy leaned over him.

'Gakuto,' Hidaka whispered heavily into his ear. 'Gakuto…'

His heart hammered loudly, trapped in the small corner of the bathroom. Hidaka's hand brushed against his shoulder and he began to fidget.

'Stay…' Hidaka groaned.

Gakuto shook his head. 'Don't—' Hidaka's hand shot out and grabbed him by the hair. He cried out in pain as he tried to pull away. 'No,' he yelled yanking his head backwards, ripping free as Hidaka splattered come down his neck and shoulder.

The impact of his push sent Hidaka stumbling back into the door. 'Get out,' Gakuto hissed, shoving him backward again and again.

'Stop it,' Hidaka grunted, grabbing him by the arm and shaking him roughly. Gakuto stumbled and cracked his knee on the side of the toilet. 'Why?' Hidaka whispered into his ear, as he caught Gakuto in his arms. 'Why do you have to be such a tease?' the senior asked, covering his mouth with one hand.

Gakuto struggled as Hidaka wrapped his other hand around his erection and roughly jerked him off. As his erection pulsed with the stimulation, his struggles ceased, and he relaxed into Hidaka's loosening grip, his head rolling back onto the other boy's shoulder. 'No…' he protested without struggle, feeling his orgasm build.

The bathroom door swung back on its hinges with a groan.

'Gakuto?'

Yuushi's voice stilled his heart. His erection flagged and softened. Hidaka released him quietly, eyes wide as he hastily tucked himself back into his pants.

'Gakuto…' Yuushi's voice was right outside. The stall door shifted as Yuushi pushed against it.

Gakuto pulled his pants on, but couldn't sort out his shirt.

Hidaka, dressed neatly, pulled open the stall door to stand face to face with Yuushi.

Gakuto dropped his head as Yuushi stared straight at him, eyes dark and emotionless, calculating the situation. His knees couldn't hold him, and he sank down to the ledge.

Yuushi's eyes narrowed alarmingly, his mouth pressed into a thin line. 'Gakuto?'

He couldn't answer.

Hidaka moved to push past Yuushi, but his partner stayed him with only a glare. 'What's going on?'

Hidaka leaned against the frame of the stall and shrugged in an off-handed manner. 'Nothing out of the ordinary,' the senior gestured offhandedly. 'Just my daily service,' Hidaka smiled darkly.

Yuushi stepped aside. 'Get out,' he hissed.

Hidaka left immediately.

He didn't know what he'd expected. To be slapped, yelled at, abandoned, he didn't know. But any punishment would've been more welcome than the gentle brush of Yuushi's hands as he pulled the shirt up and over his shoulders. His partner's long fingers untwisted the collar from behind his hair, then straightened the fabric across his chest, ignoring the remaining dampness. Then nimbly, Yuushi began to do up his buttons. Gakuto sat on the cold ledge, unresponsive until a drop of water struck his hand and he realised he was crying.

His touched his fingers to his face in disbelief.

'Gakuto?' Yuushi whispered gently.

He pushed past Yuushi, ignoring his words, and started to run.


	4. Chapter 4

Everything was quiet. Inside his house; inside his head.

Gakuto lay in his bed, the blankets pulled up and over his head. He didn't get up when his alarm went off in the morning, as he hadn't the day before, or would again.

He'd spent most of the previous day face down in his pillow, and was planning on spending today in the same way. He had gotten up for the necessities of life, the bathroom, water, and to gather some tennis magazines, but otherwise he had taken up residence in his bed with no intention of leaving it. Let alone ever returning to Hyoutei.

His mobile lay on the floor, battery run down, the answering machine in the kitchen blinking, but none of them were Yuushi. The fact that he hadn't called was partly upsetting and partly relieving. If Yuushi were to yell, he doubted he could withstand it.

He wanted to explain, but how could he explain something that he didn't understand?

Gakuto sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. He refused to shed another tear.

There was a knock on the front door.

He ignored it. His mother wasn't due home for another three days.

They knocked a little louder. Gakuto groaned and pulled the pillow overtop his head.

He heard the key slide into the lock and the front door open. 'Gakuto?'

It was Yuki.

'Get up,' she said, pulling the sheet back from his head.

'No,' he replied, voice muffled by the pillow.

The sheet was ripped from his body, leaving him lying on the mattress in his boxers. 'I said, get up,' she repeated.

Gakuto rolled onto his side. Yuki was standing at the side of his bed, sheet in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other. 'You stink, go shower. I'm making crepes.'

With that she turned, her chequered school skirt flaring out from her legs. With a groan he sat up in bed. He loved crepes.

Turning on the faucet he let the water warm up before stepping under the spray. Grabbing the soap from the shower rack he quickly built up a lather with the face cloth. Ignoring the bruises and scrapes he roughly rubbed down his arms and shoulders before starting with his feet and working up his legs wincing as he scrubbed a little too vigorously over his abraded knee. As he ran the cloth over his chest he absently reached down with his left hand to give his cock a few encouraging strokes.

He shifted his weight into a more relaxed position, trying to coax some interest from his flaccid flesh. He tried to think about some of the girls at school, or how Yuki's skirt had brushed teasingly along her thighs as she'd walked away. Finally he felt some response, a small twitch of interest. Clinging to the thought he firmed up his grip.

He struggled to keep the incident with Hidaka from his mind. The confusing sensation of pleasure and humiliation, then Yuushi's face… he felt his erection flag. 'Shit,' he whispered, falling forward to rest his head against the shower wall. His fist connected with the tiles in frustration, but it only served to give him a slightly sore hand.

Gakuto twisted the faucet off and exited the shower, yanking the towel from the rack. Ignoring his half interested dick he dried himself off and pulled on a worn shirt and jogging pants. By the time he walked into the kitchen his erection was long gone, uncertain if it ever intended to return.

'Strawberry Jam?' Yuki asked.

Gakuto shook his head as he leaned against the counter. 'Peanut butter and condensed milk.'

Yuki grimaced, but grabbed the peanut butter from the cupboard. 'You're very strange,' she commented.

He flipped through an abandoned tennis magazine as Yuki finished off his crepe and slid the pate across the counter towards him.

When she leant over the counter her skirt rose slightly. She rested her right foot, tucking it over the back of her left: her left sock slipped further down her leg. She tilted her head, ducking down to catch his gaze.

'Hello, are you in there Mukahi-kun?' she waved a hand in front of his face.

He nodded.

'So what happened?' Yuki opened the fridge and helped herself to a soda. 'You and Oshitari on the outs?' she asked passing him a cola with an expectant look.

'What?' he questioned.

'Open it for me... nails...' she flashed him her new set of claws.

Gakuto shook his head and popped the tab for her. 'Why do you come here, Yuki?'

She shrugged. 'I come here almost everyday, why ask now?'

He shrugged. 'Now was the first time it mattered.'

Yuki nodded slowly taking a sip of her cola. Placing the can down on the countertop she came around to stand beside him. Gakuto pulled his magazine a little further away and turned his upper body away from her. He felt her legs brush against the back of his knees first, before her chest pressed along his back and she wrapped her arms about him. Gakuto leant back a little into her warmth. Her soft rounded arms enclosed him in an embrace he could easily break. He could feel the swell of her small breasts against his back, the brush of her hair across his shoulder.

Her fingers gently smoothed across his forehead and through his chin length hair in a comforting manner. He slowly turned into her embrace and pressed his face into her shoulder. She gently swayed left to right as he sank into the rhythm and the tension of the day was sloughed away.

His body tensed when her fingers brushed along the waistline of his pants. Her hands retreated back up to his shoulders and he relaxed back into the motion. Gakuto lifted his head from her shoulder and stared at her lips. Slowly he leaned forward to press his lips to hers.

Her lips were soft, and wet, sweet like the crepes. He deepened the kiss, pressing his tongue into her mouth, feeling her lips move wetly against his. Gakuto pulled away. Pressed this close to her, he couldn't hide his body's disinterestedness.

Gakuto awkwardly slipped from her hug, his faced flushed in embarrassment. Yuki squeezed his hand with a smile and then pulled a chocolate bar from her school bag. 'It explains a lot, really,' she commented mildly, handing over the chocolate.

For a while they talked about normal things; it was a full ten minutes before they got into a fight.

Yuki stood at the door, school bag slung over one shoulder, and paused. 'He called me, you know. Oshitari. He wanted to come himself, but…' She shrugged with a small smile, 'see you.'


	5. Chapter 5

He was standing at the gates of Hyoutei, his overnight bag over one shoulder, feeling as if it might be the last day of the world.

He felt the very moment that Yuushi caught sight of him. The familiar feel of his presence behind him. Just like when they were on court, except the nervousness he felt had nothing to do with a game.

His partner stopped beside him and leant against the gate. 'Are you staying over?' Yuushi asked adjusting his glasses.

Gakuto nodded. He stayed over almost every weekend.

They walked together, the silence a little uncomfortable. For the first time since he'd known Yuushi he couldn't think of what to say. But Yuushi spoke first.

'Yuki came to see me,' Yuushi mentioned, looking over to him. 'She brought me a Ponta… orange.'

Gakuto laughed unexpectedly. 'Orange?'

'Yeah,' Yuushi smiled. 'I think she likes me a little bit.'

'Yuushi?' he asked.

'Yes.'

'The last few days really sucked,' he confessed.

'They really did,' Yuushi remarked.

He walked alongside his partner, the silence a little more relaxed. He asked about the tennis practice he'd missed and before long they were heatedly discussing who would be the top seed player in Kanto.

Yuushi took his bag from his shoulder and tossed it to the corner of the room. 'So movie of my choice, right?'

Gakuto had never enjoyed a movie Yuushi had picked out as much as he enjoyed the stupid one they watched that night. He had no idea what was happening and could hardly be bothered to read the subtitles, but he was sitting with Yuushi again, so the pretentious film was worth it.

After a few rounds of Dead or Alive, in which he'd sufficiently kicked Yuushi's ass badly enough to make up for the film, Gakuto flopped back onto the bed, feeling happy and relaxed.

Yuushi fell down beside him with a huff, dark hair falling across Gakuto's face. He laughed and brushed his partners hair away. Then he became very aware of Yuushi's proximity.

Yuushi rolled onto his side to face him. 'Stay up here with me tonight, my mum pulled all the bedding out for airing.'

'Oh,' he replied idiotically, feeling his throat tighten around his words. 'Okay. I'm going to…' He pointed at the bathroom.

Gakuto grabbed his bag and escaped to the bathroom. He wouldn't think about how hot he felt, or how close Yuushi would be laying to him. He would think of nothing, because right then everything was perfect. Hidaka was gone and Yuushi was still friends with him.

He mechanically prepared for bed. He usually wore just his boxers, but he left his shirt on. He felt a little more comfortable with that thin layer of protection.

When he returned, Yuushi was folding his glasses and placing them on the bedside table, in only his cotton shorts. 'Aren't you going to be hot?' his partner asked, gesturing to his shirt.

Gakuto shook his head. 'I'll be fine,' he remarked, kicking his bag up against the wall, where it wouldn't be in the way.

Yuushi smiled and lay down resting his head on the pillow. 'Do you mind the taking the side against the wall?'

He shook his head quietly and climbed over his partner, tucking his feet up and sliding them between the sheets.

He held his body close, preventing himself from crowding or touching his partner. When Yuushi's foot accidentally brushed against his leg, he tucked his knees in closer, and when Yuushi's arm was squashed against his back, he shifted closer to the wall. It was the most uncomfortable he'd ever been.

'Gakuto?' Yuushi's breath rushed over the back of his neck.

'Yes?' he murmured softly.

The bed shifted under them and Yuushi propped himself up and leaned over him. 'Why,' Yuushi's hand came down to rest hotly on his hip. 'Are you moving away from me?'

His breath rushed from his body as Yuushi pressed his body alongside his, mimicking his posture.

'Yuushi, I…'

The soft brush of skin along the nape of his neck set his skin quivering. A small moan escaped him as his cock pressed hotly against his thigh.

'I love your hair,' Yuushi muttered as his lips began to trial delicately over the ridged of his spine to where his hair brushed against his neck. 'But I won't say it if you don't want me to.' His cock leapt as Yuushi gently bit his neck.

'Turn around, Gakuto,' Yuushi asked, pulling his body back towards him. He allowed himself to be manoeuvred, until he lay on his back, gazing up into Yuushi's face.

'I don't…' Yuushi's leg brushed over top his own. His partners weight pressing his hips down into the mattress and Yuushi's hardness pressing into his thigh.

Hands brushed the hair from his face, as Yuushi leaned in closer, until their lips brushed together, and Yuushi's breath exhaled across his skin softly. His whole body quivered at the gentle touch, the small space between their bodies heating up with every shift in their movement. Then he pressed himself into Yuushi. He couldn't stop himself. He pressed his mouth fiercely and desperately to his partners, his tongue sliding between Yuushi's lips.

Yuushi collapsed down onto him, and they pressed together completely, thigh-to-thigh, chest-to-chest. Gakuto slid his hand into the darkness of Yuushi's hair, a slight moan escaping between them as he gasped for breath. 'Yuushi,' he whispered between kisses.

Yuushi pressed his hips down into his, rubbing their erections together, pulling away from their kiss with a moan. Gakuto trailed his tongue down Yuushi's neck, as Yuushi pulled his shirt away to expose more skin running his hands along his sides and back down towards the waistline of his shorts. 'Yuushi,' he panted into his partner's ears. 'Yuushi wait, I'm confused.'

Yuushi's eyes were dark and intent as he looked into his face. 'Gakuto,' he murmured. 'I'm going to make you feel good, I promise.'

'I do, I feel good,' he panted. 'Really good, but…'

Yuushi's hand on his hip was firm and warm. The palm slid enticingly along his skin and under his shirt, and pulled the fabric over his head. He allowed his shirt to be tossed to the other side of the room. His body was overrun with sensation. The gentle brush of hair across his skin, the warm pad and pressure of Yuushi's fingers.

Gakuto jumped as a wetness enveloped his nipple and suckled, a firm hand wrapped his arousal. He gripped Yuushi's shoulders, fingers digging in with the intensity of the sensations Yuushi was causing. Gakuto threw his head back onto the pillow in relief as Yuushi released his nipple.

His boxers were being tugged down over his hips. Gakuto sat up suddenly pulling the waistband from Yuushi's grip. 'What are you doing?' he asked breathlessly.

'I'm taking off your shorts,' Yuushi replied with a tug.

'Why?' he asked.

Yuushi's fingers loosened their grip on his pants. 'So we can have sex. That's what you want right?' he asked, voice hardening a little.

'No,' Gakuto replied.

Yuushi rolled off of him and sat on the edge of the bed. 'Isn't this what you wanted?' his partner asked wildly.

'No…I—'

'You let that boy come on you,' Yuushi yelled, dashing his glasses from the nightstand. 'You don't even like him.'

'Yuushi, you don't understand.'

'Yes I do. I can be like that if you want me to, Gakuto. It will be better with me, I won't treat you so badly.' Yuushi grabbed his arm pulling him across the bed. 'It can be about sex, I can do that.'

Gakuto wrenched his arm free. 'That's not what I want,' he replied fiercely. 'Why would I want that? To force yourself to—'

Yuushi looked away quickly, his back and muscles stiff. His partner laughed harshly, a dry embittered bark. 'You must really like him.'

'Who?' he cried in confusion.

'Hidaka,' Yuushi spat.

Gakuto shook his head wildly, kneeling up on the bed. 'I h-hate Hidaka,' he stammered. His voice felt strangled and he struggled to breath properly. 'I hate him,' he choked out, fighting against the burning feeling of threatening tears.

'But?'

Gakuto leant forward, resting his head against Yuushi's shoulder. 'I didn't want you to know, but he threatened to tell you. I didn't want you to know…'

'Know what?' Yuushi murmured.

'That I was… that I liked,' his face flushed with heat. 'Liked guys.'

Yuushi turned, wrapping him in and embrace and pulling him into his chest. 'You idiot,' he laughed hoarsely, voice tight with emotions. 'I knew.'

The pressure in his chest burst though in a sob. 'You knew?' he questioned.

'Gakuto, I don't get changed in front of anyone.'

'Oh.' He hid his face into Yuushi shoulder.

Yuushi's hand came down over his and squeezed. 'I was waiting for you.'

Gakuto was surprised to see a hint of tears in Yuushi's gaze. 'You were waiting for me?'

'Until you were ready… I thought I had time. I broke up with Hanako, told her I was interested in you.'

'In me?' he repeated in a daze.

'You.'

'Why were you being so mean, then?' he cried pummelling Yuushi's arm with his fists.

'Ouch, Gakuto stop.' Yuushi grabbed his wrists. 'I thought you knew… when I saw you with Hidaka, I thought it was because you thought my romantic ways were… stupid.'

'I do,' he replied. Yuushi's smile fell from his face. 'That doesn't mean I don't want it though,' he quickly amended.

Yuushi sat quietly at the edge of the bed, thinking his words over with more scrutiny than Gakuto would like. 'I just don't want to be all sappy or sickening… no skirts, or cards with hearts… that kind of shit,' he clarified.

As Yuushi slowly nodded, he let out a sigh of relief.

'But we'll be together… exclusively.'

'Yes.' The word rushed from his lips. 'Just you and me.'

Yuushi's hand slid down his arm, until their fingers intertwined. 'So,' Yuushi drawled his smile becoming ever more familiar. 'We're skipping the public displays of affection, the declarations of love and any sort of construction paper cards?'

'Yep.'

'Well,' Yuushi commented slyly. 'I'd say that puts us squarely at mutually beneficial blow jobs.'

Gakuto let out a yell as Yuushi tackled him down to the bed, using his superior height and weight to pin down his limbs.

They pause nose to nose. 'It's like jumping off the diving platform,' Yuushi whispered.

He nodded, kissing his partner chastely. 'Scared, but you still do it…'

'Right,' Yuushi replied with a kiss.


End file.
